La Belle, also known as LaBelle, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

on Taylor Bayou and FM 365, approximately twelve miles south of

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

, in central Jefferson County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is part of the Beaumont– Port Arthur

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

History

Although officially recognized settlers had lived in the Taylor Bayou area since the 1830s, a post office was not established at the community known as Lower Taylor's Bayou until 1888. In that year new postmaster J. E. Broussard named the post office La Belle in honor of his fiancée, Mary Bell Bordages. The area's first school was probably started by Leo (Peg Leg) Craigen, near what later became the Port Arthur Country Club. Located in the fertile but flood-prone prairies of the upper

Texas Gulf Coast Texas Gulf Coast is an intertidal zone which borders the coastal region of South Texas, Southeast Texas, and the Texas Coastal Bend. The Texas coastal geography boundaries the Gulf of Mexico encompassing a geographical distance relative bear ...

, La Belle was the site of one of several pumping stations designed to control flooding and drainage along Taylor Bayou. Because of its somewhat isolated location, the LaBelle post office was discontinued in 1914. Local schools were consolidated with those of the town of Fannett in 1923. Fourteen years later, however, the discovery of large quantities of oil and natural gas at the La Belle oilfield, five miles south of the community, sparked new interest in the area. Scattered residences, the pumping station, and oilfields and gas lines to the south marked the La Belle community on maps during the mid-1970s. In 1961, the Fannett Independent School District was combined with that of neighboring Hamshire, forming the

Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District is a public school district based in unincorporated Jefferson County, Texas, United States. It serves Hamshire, Fannett, and New Holland. History The district was formed in 1961 by the consolidatio ...

which currently serves area students.

References

Handbook of Texas Online, LaBelle, TX
Unincorporated communities in Jefferson County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area {{JeffersonCountyTX-geo-stub